The present invention relates generally to a bracket for use with a household trash container, and more particularly to a bracket for holding a removable liner for such household trash containers.
The use of household trash containers for temporarily containing trash and the like and the use of removable lining materials for keeping the interior of the outer trash container clean and sanitary is well known in the art. One type of trash container lining in widespread use is an oversized plastic bag that may be placed within the cavity of a trash container. Plastic linings of this type are generally of sufficient length to allow the outer peripheral rim of the liner to be folded back over the outer rim of the trash receptacle or container for the purpose of providing vertical support to the walls of the liner and thereby preventing the liner from slipping down into the container itself.
Another commonly used liner for trash containers is the common paper grocery bag of a size approximately the size of the trash container cavity. Such paper grocery bags are generally of insufficient length to be folded back over the rims of the conventional sized kitchen trash container, but the structural rigidity of the paper is generally sufficient to maintain the paper bag in an upright position within the trash container. The outer walls of the trash container in both cases provides lateral support for the liner and prevents rupture and tearing of the liner from various stresses generated by the weight of the material placed within the receptacle. The advantage of plastic liners over the paper bags have been that the plastic liners are generally stronger and impervious to fluids and, thus, may be removed from the household container and carried directly to an outdoor container without tearing or rupturing the liner. The advantage of the paper grocery bags has been that they are generally free, recyclable material which may be used at no cost to the home owner.
It has recently become a custom of many grocery store chains to switch from paper grocery bags or sacks to plastic grocery sacks of approximately the same size of the paper bags being replaced. The new plastic grocery sack has two cut out portions in the upper lateral sides of the sack to provide an opening at the top of the sack which provides two carrying straps which may be placed together and held with one hand by the customer to provide ease in transporting the groceries contained in the sack. However, such plastic grocery sacks have been unusable as trash container liners since the plastic material does not have sufficient structural rigidity to maintain the plastic sack in an upright position within the trash container and such sacks do not have sufficient length to allow folding over the upper rim of the trash container.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,835 issued Dec. 6, 1983 to Abner W. Watts, discloses a bracket for mounting limp, plastic grocery bags in a trash container. The bracket in this patent comprises a wire bracket which is bolted to the sides of the trash container and has two ear portions about which the opening forming the handle is draped or hooked. Such a bracket is provided on two sides of a rectangular container. There are a number of problems that arise with a bracket of the type disclosed in this patent. One problem is that the plastic sacks are held below the surface of the rim of the receptacle and the lining, limp plastic sack generally tends to overflow before the receptacle is filled with trash or garbage, thus making it difficult for the filled sack to be removed from the container, and often unsanitary for the user. Another problem is that the bracket is held in place by two bolts which must penetrate what is usually a rigid plastic receptacle and the holes within the receptacle usually weaken the structure of the receptacle itself; thus the receptacle may fail during usage especially where heavy loads are placed within the plastic liner.